Lock set installation apparatus and kit and method of using the same

ABSTRACT

A lock set installation apparatus has a pair of hole saw guides which locate a hole to receive door operating members of a lock set. Each hole saw guide has at least one rail member which oppose one another. A lock bolt hole mechanism is movable and coupled with the rails. The lock bolt hole mechanism centers the lock bolt hole onto the door. A locking mechanism locks the hole saw guides with respect to one another to enable cutting of the door.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional application of pending of U.S.application Ser. No. 10/712,862, filed Nov. 13, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No.7,210,880.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to lock set installation and, moreparticularly, to an apparatus or jig to provide proper alignment to boreholes in a door to install a lock set assembly.

Installation jigs to install lock sets are known in the art. Examples ofsuch jigs are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,398,465 to Monge and2,763,299 to Cerf. The Monge patent illustrates an installation jigwhich includes a pair of jaws and a latch guide coupled together by anadjusting mechanism. The latch guide is somewhat complicated, however,it appears to work satisfactory for its intended purpose. The patent toCerf illustrates a lock installation tool which only provides for asingle back set. While these patents provide satisfactory apparatus,designers are always striving to improve the art.

The present invention provides the art with a simple lock setinstallation jig which is easily adjustable to fit onto a door. The jigenables receipt of both standard types of lock sets. The invention has adrive mechanism to tighten the apparatus onto a door. Also, theapparatus includes a lock mechanism to lock the apparatus in position onthe door after it has been tightened onto the door.

According to a first aspect of the invention, a lock set installationapparatus comprises a pair of hole saw receiving members to locate dooroperating members of a lock set on a door. At least one of the pair ofhole saw receiving members includes a hole saw receiving aperture andeach includes at least one rail member. The rail members of the pair ofhole saw receiving members oppose one another. A bolt lock holemechanism is coupled with the opposing rail members. The opposing railmember enables the pair of hole saw members to move towards and awayfrom one another. The bolt lock hole mechanism includes an aperture toposition a drill to form a hole for a lock bolt assembly. A lockingmechanism locks the pair of members in position with respect to oneanother to enable boring of a door. The locking mechanism is coupledwith at least one of the rail members. Each of the rail members includesa plurality of gear teeth. The bolt lock mechanism has a ring gear witha plurality of gear teeth which mesh with the gear teeth of the rails.The locking mechanism includes a ring gear with a plurality of ratchetteeth on one of the rails. A ratchet arm, having ratchet teeth, iscoupled with the rail ratchet teeth to lock the members with respect toone another. Also, a slide latch secures the ratchet arm in position onthe rail to enhance the lock. Ordinarily, the members include a pair ofrails.

In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, a door lock setinstallation kit comprises a hole saw, a drill bit and a jig. The jig iscomprised of a pair of hole saw receiving members to locate the dooroperating members of a lock set on a door. At least one of the pair ofhole saw receiving members includes a hole saw receiving aperture andeach includes at least one rail member. The rail members of the pair ofhole saw receiving members oppose one another. A bolt lock holemechanism is coupled with the opposing rail members. The opposing railmembers enable the pair of hole saw receiving members to move towardsand away from one another. The bolt lock hole mechanism includes anaperture to position a drill to form a hole for a lock bolt assembly. Alocking mechanism locks the pair of hole saw receiving members inposition with respect to one another to enable boring of a door. Thelocking mechanism is coupled with at least one of the rail members. Eachof the rail members includes a plurality of gear teeth. The bolt lockhole mechanism has a ring gear with a plurality of gear teeth which meshwith the gear teeth of the rails. The locking mechanism has a pluralityof ratchet teeth on one of the rails. A ratchet arm, with ratchet teeth,is coupled with the rail ratchet teeth to lock the members with respectto one another. Also, a slide latch member secures the ratchet arm inposition on the rail to enhance the lock. Ordinarily, the hole sawreceiving members include a pair of rails.

According to a third aspect of the invention, a method for installing alock set comprises positioning the jig on the door. The jig is tightenedonto the door. A hole saw is positioned in the hole saw receiving memberaperture. The door is cut by the hole saw. A drill bit is positionedinto the lock bolt hole mechanism. A hole is bored into the door by thedrill bit. A lock set is assembled onto the door utilizing the drilledholes. Further, the lock bolt hole mechanism is adjusted to clamp themembers onto the doors. Once the adjustment is proper, the rails and, inturn, the hole saw receiving members are locked with respect to oneanother.

From the following detailed description taken in conjunction with thedrawings and subjoined claims, other objects and advantages of thepresent invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a lock set installation apparatus inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross section view of FIG. 1 along line 2-2 thereof.

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of the installation apparatus of FIG.1.

FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of the installation device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a cross section view of FIG. 3 along line 5-5 thereof with thelock bolt hole mechanism in phantom.

FIG. 6 is a cross section view of FIG. 3 along line 6-6 thereof.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the installation apparatus on a doorready for use.

FIG. 8 is a front perspective view of the apparatus on the door.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the door with its holes with a lock setin phantom.

FIG. 10 is a second embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Turning to the Figures, particularly FIG. 1, a lock set installationapparatus is illustrated and designated with the reference numeral 20.The installation apparatus 20 includes a pair of hole saw guides 22 and24. The pair of hole saw guides 22 and 24 are coupled with one another.A lock bolt hole mechanism 26 is coupled with the hole saw guides toenhance movement of the hole saw guide members 22 and 24 towards andaway from one another. Also, a locking mechanism 28 is coupled with thehole saw guides 22 and 24 to lock the guides in position on a door.

The hole saw guide members 22 and 24 are similar to one another beingmirror images of each other. Both include an annulus 32 and 34 toreceive a hole saw. However, only one annulus is needed and the othercould be a blank. The annulus 32 and 34 has an overall oblong ellipticaldesign providing guide surfaces 33, 35 for both of the standard lockback sets. Also, a guide ring 36 can be positioned into the annulus toprovide a small guide hole for the hole saw. The guide rings 36 includeprojections 38 which fit into recesses 40 on the annulus 32 and 34.Beams 42 and 44 project from annuli 32 and 34, respectively. The beams42 and 44 include pressure pads 43, 45. The pressure pads 43, 45 includean elastomeric tab 47 which enhances retention of the apparatus 20 on adoor. The annuli 32 and 34 also include elastomeric tabs 47 to enhanceretention. The beams include rails 46 and 48 and 50 and 52.

The rails 46 through 52 have an overall U-shape in cross-section withrails 46 and 52 having a smaller web to fit into the U of rails 48 and50, respectively, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3 . This enables the hole sawguides 22, 24 to move with respect to one another. The rails 46 and 52are substantially identical. The rails 46 and 52 include an outersurface having a plurality of unidirectional ratchet teeth 54. The innersurface of the rails 46 and 52 include teeth 56 which act as a rack aswill be described herein. Also, the rails 46 and 52 include a stop 58which is positioned inside of the rails 48 and 50. The stops 58 prohibitfurther extension of the hole saw guide members 22 and 24 with respectto one another. The stops 58 also prohibit the hole saw guides 24 fromcoming apart from one another.

Rail 48 has a recess 49 with a flange 51 to receive the stop 58 on rail52. The stop 58 slides on the flange until it contacts the end 53 of therecess 49 where movement is stopped. This happens on both sides of theflange 51 to prohibit further movement in both directions. Also, therails 48 and 50 contact the frame 42 and 44 to prohibit further movementof the hole saw guides 22 and 24 toward one another as seen in FIG. 3.

The rail 50 includes a recess 49 and flange 51 like that previouslydescribed. Also, the rail 50 includes a ratchet arm 60 which includesratchet teeth 62. Ratchet teeth 62 contact ratchet teeth 54 to lock thehole saw guides 22 and 24 in position with respect to one another, seeFIG. 6. A sliding latch 64 is positioned on rails 66 and 68 on rail 50.The sliding latch 64 forces the ratchet arm 60 downward, which, in turn,meshes teeth 54 and 62 together. The sliding latch 64 includes a flange66 to seat in the ratchet arm recess 70 to secure and lock the railstogether.

The rails 46, 48, 50 and 52 include tooth cut outs 80, 82, 84 and 86 ona leg of the U. This is best illustrated in FIG. 4. The cutouts 80through 86 are positioned with respect to one another to receive thelock bolt hole mechanism 26. The lock bolt hole mechanism 26 is centeredwith respect to the hole saw guides 22 and 24, when the lock bolt holemechanism 26 is positioned onto the rails 46 through 52. The lock boltmechanism 26 has a cylindrical annulus 88 with gear teeth 90 positionedon its outer surface forming a gear ring 92. The gear ring 92 fits intothe gear teeth 56 so that as the rails 46-56 are moved with respect toone another, the bolt hole member 26 free floatingly rotates in therails 46-52 acting as a pinion. There is a bore 94 in the cylindricalannulus 88 to enable a drill bit to pass through the bolt lock holemechanism 26 to drill the door for a lock bolt.

Turning to FIGS. 7 through 9, the apparatus is illustrated on a door110. First, the apparatus 20 is opened so that the gap between the holesaw guide members 22 and 24 is large enough to receive the door 110.Once the door 110 is positioned between the gap, the hole saw guidemembers 22 and 24 are squeezed to move towards one another. As the holesaw guides 22 and 24 are squeezed together, the tabs 47 contact the door110. The tabs 47 temporarily secure the hole saw guides 22, 24 on thedoor 110. The latch 64 is slid on top of the ratchet arm 60 to lock thehole saw guides 22, 24 with respect to one another. As the latch 64 isslid, its flange 68 comes in contact with the ratchet arm recess 70which, in turn, forces the ratchet arm 60 downward which engages theratchet arm teeth 66 with the teeth 54 of the rail 46.

After the apparatus 20 is secured on the door, the hole saw 120 isinserted into an aperture in either of the annulus 32, 34 and a hole 122is drilled into the door 110. The hole can be drilled from one side orboth sides depending on the workman's desires or product configuration.After the hole 122, via the hole saw, is drilled into the door 110, adrill bit 130 is positioned into the bore 94 in the bolt lock holemechanism 26. Since the bolt lock hole mechanism 26 is already centeredon the door 110, no adjustment is necessary. The drill bit 130 boresinto the door 110 forming a bore 132 in the door which intersects thehole 122 which was made by the hole saw. Once these holes 122, 132 arecompleted, the bolt mechanism 134, as well as the operator mechanisms136, are inserted through the holes 122, 132 to complete the assembly ofthe lock set 140 onto the door.

Turning to FIG. 10, an additional embodiment is illustrated. In FIG. 10,the design is substantially the same as that previously disclosed.However, rails 48′ and 50′ may both include a ratchet arm 60 asdescribed above. The ratchet arms 60 may include latch members (notshown) to secure them in place.

Also, the bolt lock hole mechanism 26′ or pinion may be modified toinclude a longer annulus 88′ which acts as a knob which can be rotatedto move the hole saw guides 22, 24 towards and way from one another.

The remainder of the apparatus is the same as that previously discussed.

In light of the above detailed description, those skilled in the artwill appreciate that variations, modifications or alteration may occurwithout deviating from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

1. A method for installing a lock set comprising: positioning a jighaving a pair of hole saw guides for locating holes for door operatingmembers of a lock set, at least one of said pair of hole saw guidesincluding a hole saw receiving aperture and each including at least onerail member, said at least one rail member opposing one another on adoor; a bolt lock hole mechanism coupled with said at least one opposingrail, said opposing rails enabling said pair of hole saw guides to movetoward and away from one another, said bolt lock mechanism including anaperture for positioning a drill to form a hole for a lock boltassembly, said bolt lock mechanism including a mechanism for centeringsaid bolt lock mechanism with respect to said pair of hole saw guidesduring movement of said rails; a locking mechanism for locking said pairof hole saw guides in position with respect to one another to enablecutting of a door, said locking mechanism coupled with at least one ofsaid rails; tightening said jig on said door; positioning a hole saw insaid hole saw guide aperture; cutting a hole in the door; positioning adrill bit in said bolt lock hole mechanism; cutting a hole in said door;and assembling a lock set assembly in said door holes.
 2. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising adjusting said bolt lock hole mechanism toclamp said members on said door.
 3. The method of claim 2 furthercomprising locking said rails with respect to one another.